2020 Poetry Competition Results
Results of 2020 Poetry Competition - Secrets and Lies (2020-07-18 11:30:43)
First and the Poetry Trophy: Tammany Adieu by Edward Harte
Second place: The Power to Send by Harvey Martin
Third place: Crickets and Flies by John Brown
(top from the left) Edward Harte, Harvey Martin, John Brown, (bottom from the left) Andy Barrett (Judge), with Michael Pearcy and Terry Adlam who were highly commended.
Poets Embrace Secrets and Lies challenge written by Lorraine Forrest-Turner.
The 2020 poetry competition has been won by Edward Harte with his poem Tammany Adieu about the life and death of Mary Anderson, who led a secret life as New York bondsman, and politician Murray Hall.
Inspired by a secret and lies workshop earlier in the year, the theme of the 2020 competition prompted a wide range of subjects from fake news and marital betrayal to twins separated at birth and biblical tragedy.
Second place went to Harvey Martin for The Power to Send and third place to John Brown for Crickets and Flies. Two additional poems,The Third Magpie by Terry Adlam and What is Stolen by Mike Pearcy, were highly commended.
The competition was judged by Andy Barrett a song writer and poet, and former journalist and editor. On announcing the competition, Andy advised members of the group that he was looking for "a balance of poetry and verse". He said, "Poetry is the inspiration, the moment, the feeling, the idea captured in words. Verse is the form the words are constrained by."
During his excellent adjudication, Andy gave an in-depth, intelligent and erudite analysis of each of the 12 entries, often offering advice on how to improve the writing further.
He said of Edward's winning poem, "It's a piece of free verse with a clear structure in its subverted stanzas each of which takes the story one step forward, seen through the eyes of Mary Anderson's step-daughter. The reader immediately wants to know more and the poem shows glimpses of superb language: 'A kind of kissing; January's North Atlantic wind keening', and 'as Boston fades in the mouth of the Charles'.
Andy delivers the results
Slough Writers members